Whispers of the Forgotten
by Elle-ish
Summary: When lonely fifteen year old Josh Nichols meets a boy who refuses to talk one night in the forest, his entire life is turned around. Non Slash, friendship. AU. ON HIATUS
1. Prologue

Yay! New story :) I'm excited, as well as a little nervous... So, lets get started shall we? :p Hopefully this won't cause too much to confusion.

Warning: Some dark themes in later chapters (I'm sorry), and this also an alternate universe fic :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Drake and Josh

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><p><strong>There is nobody here that can reach you,<br>There is nobody here that can find you.**

Whispers of the Forgotten

X~~~X~~~X

If someone valued the clichés of life, this could start with 'Once Upon a Time', but with 'Once Upon a Time' the horribly overused 'And they lived happily ever after' is expected. Real life isn't about happy endings. It's about getting through, day by day, with as many laughs and as little tears as possible.

Nearing the end of 10th grade, fifteen, almost sixteen year old Josh Nichols was beginning to learn that life isn't always filled with smiles. That's wishful thinking.

At fifteen, life was good for Josh. His Dad was happier than he had ever been. He had the step-sibling he had always wanted, even though she could be over-whelming with her pranks. And his step-mom, when taking her pills, was the kindest woman in the world.

He was in a relationship. She was bright. Gorgeous. She was a girl who he had plans on going to university with. The beauty which seemed to be the reason of Josh's existence was named Mindy. Josh often said that if you spelled 'Love', there was the same amount of letters as the word 'Josh'. If you spelled 'Love' with two E's, it was the same amout of letters as the word 'Mindy'. Obviously, they were meant to be.

Deep within the backburner of his mind, a place where Josh was a little scared to go, yet always seemed to end up within the last 5 minutes of Algebra, there was the picture of 3 children, a gorgeous house with a veranda, and a happy couple named Josh and Mindy Nichols-Crenshaw drinking coffee. The idea of that named being turned around to Josh and Mindy Crenshaw-Nichols had also occurred to him, but if that's what would make Mindy happy, he was up for anything. As long as they could be together and remain happy, thats all that mattered, right?

He thought he had everything. Good grades. Good friends. An amazing and interesting family. Other than his Step Mother's rare mental outbursts (which only happened when she refused to take her pills), life was good. Simple, if not boring, yet still good. And simple and good were things Josh idolized. Craved for.

But as said previously, not everyone has a 'Once Upon a Time' and a 'Happily Ever After'.

Being close to sixteen years old, Josh figured out that there was no better time to learn that particular lesson.

What happened at to Josh Nichols at fifteen years old, that changed his oh-so-positive outlook on life? To put it simply, he met someone.

A fifteen year old boy. He was silent. Refused to speak.

That was the best way to describe him.

This is the story of their friendship. And from that friendship, Josh learned about reality.

Real life can suck, it just depends on what you make of it to get you past the bad times and back into the good.

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><p>Shortest thing I've ever written!<p>

Review :)


	2. Chapter 1

Helll0oOoOo0o! Oiyy, I had the most difficult time writing this chapter, atleast the beginning of it anyways :p... But my exams are all done now! (That has nothing to do with anything, but it's exciting none the less!) And thank you SorrowNoMore and jaded river hussie for your reviews! I really need to start pm-ing you guys my thanks -_- It's so much nicer!

Anywaysss, answers about Drake will keep coming up within the next few Chapters. I'm sorry... I just want to leave a little to the imagaination :p

Disclaimer: I do not own Drake and Josh

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><p>"Hey Craig, Eric, wait up!" Josh Nichols yelled from down the hall. He had been going over the answers to his Biology test for the 6th time that period, until he realized that the period was over... and that the entire class had already left. Of course, it took the teacher's loud coughing to force Josh to look up and realize that certain fact.<p>

On his way out of the classroom, Josh mumbled a very apologetic and sincere "I'm sorry", leaving the class promising to make his famous fudgey boo's for the teacher, since he had postponed his weekend by a mere ten minutes.

Craig and Eric momentarily stopped their discussion of weekend plans as they waited for Josh to catch up.

"Hurry up, Josh!" cried Eric, who began leaning against the lockers tiredly. "You know that me and Craig are going to the Museum for the opening of the Mummy Exhibit! We don't want to be late!" The boy whined.

Josh caught up to the two of them, a lop sided grin plastered to his slimming face. "Ya, I know, I'm sorry. It's just my Dad bought me three tickets for The Great Dohini tomorrow night at The Magic Palace!" Josh yelled from excitement, flinging his arms in the air for emphasis.

Much to Josh's amusement, both Eric's and Craig's jaws fell to the floor at the same time.

"The G-g-great D-dohini?" Eric stuttered with much difficulty.

"In San Diego?" Shouted Craig, making up for Eric's lack of finishing his sentence. The boys had made a habit of that lately, finishing the other's sentences. It was becoming somewhat of an annoyance for Josh.

Josh had to laugh, there were his two best friends, mouths agape and staring wide eyed, unblinking. Suddenly they turned to each other, before smiling and high fiving each other's hands. "Dude, this is going to be so awesome!" Eric's voice cracked as it went to his ultrasonic pitch.

"I thought he retired!" Craig replied quickly, before Eric took off on a ramble of the 'Great Dohini's' amazing life, specifically on the fact that he _didn't_ retire... The Great Dohini was just on a break.

Josh smile. "So... I'll assume that you'll be going with me, then?"

"Yes!" Both boys turned to him and yelled from enthusiasm at the same time.

"Alrighty than-" Josh said, laughing. He watched his two friends in both amazement and incomprehension. How the heck do two people manage to spend that much time together and not hate the other human being? Even though he didn't fully understand it, he had to admit to himself that he felt a pang of jealously over their friendship.

Josh's mind wandered from the tickets over to the jealousy idea as he saw a dirty blond head of hair walk down the hall, carrying one too many books for his liking.

"Hey, I'll call you two tomorrow morning with the details." Josh said, as he ran to catch up to the beauty who held the dirty blond hair.

"Hey, you." Josh said as he glided up to her, arms encircling her shoulder. He wanted to put his hands around her waist, if he wasn't fearful of her getting angry and accidently hitting him in the you-know-where. You can never be too sure about girls, especially since the accident had happened before. So, sacrificing his wants for his priorities, he just let his arm float above her shoulder.

"Hey." She smiled back. "That test was so easy, huh?"

Josh's eyes began to look left and right, his muscles tensing. "Uh-huh! I-i... ya-huh! It was so easy! I mean, question 17, pfft, that one alone I could in 20 seconds alone..."

"I'm just teasing, Josh. The test would be hard for someone of your enlarged head. You have to carry all of that extra weight, so it's only natural for you to want to take your time writing it." She winked and smiled evilly towards him. Josh continued to walk, holding his girl in his arms, while trying to comprehend what Mindy just burned him on _plus_ come back with something witty. In all under 20 seconds. Jeez, High School could be tough!

"And why did somebody with a normal sized head end up finishing the test only 20 minutes into the class?" Josh asked, cocking his eyebrows.

"Josh, you know me. I'm a Crenshaw, we're all overachievers." She said, repositioning the books in her arms. Josh saw this and immediately grabbed one off the larger binders, placing it so it rested on the side of his hip.

Mindy gave Josh a 'thanks' before returning to the conversation."So, are we getting together this weekend? My parents are wondering because they want to head up to Cabin for a few days." She questioned, using her loose arm to wave to one of her friends.

"Well, if you want to go to your cabin, you can. We'll get together Monday if that's the case!" Josh replied. He did want to spend sometime with Mindy this weekend, but whatever Mindy wanted was A-Okay with Josh.

"Okay, well I kind of did want to go waterskiing, you know, let go of some of my aggression from all the stupidity that I'm forced to sit through day in and day out. Ugh," Mindy rolled her eyes dramatically. She groaned at the mere thought of being in a High School English class and not being allowed to use her sarcasm to make her points. The frustration had to be let out somehow.

"- it's those times when somebody answers such an easy question wrong that I'm so glad I have you." Mindy smiled widely at Josh, before she pitched her voice to a higher tone, mocking what Josh believed to be a cheerleader who got an answer wrong earlier in class. "_Well, Ms. Samuels, I believe that the two main families that were rivalling in William Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' were the Montagues and the ... umm, Bassets." _Mindy let out a loud growl, "It's not the _Bassets's_! It was the Capulets. _Basset _was a follower of the Duke of Somerset in Henry VI. God! Everyone knows that!" She inwardly screamed.

Josh gave his girlfriend a nervous giggle, especially since it was actually _him_ who had said that, and not the cheerleader that Mindy was mocking. "Ya, haha, that's so funny, the Capulets, who doesn't know that! I mean-"

As the couple exited the school doors, Mindy turned abruptly and kissed Josh sweetly on the lips, interrupting his sentence that was obviously going nowhere.

"As much as I love this conversation, I have to get home and start packing. Don't want to keep my parents waiting!" Mindy grabbed her binder from underneath Josh's arm, repositioning it against her own. When everything felt sturdy enough against her stomach and chest, she ran off towards her house, giving Josh a weak wave.

He knew it wouldn't be of any use, but he felt like a bad boyfriend if he didn't do it. So, Josh lifted his arm towards her, waving.

"Bye, Mindy." He said, even knowing that she would never hear it.

X~~~X~~~X

Josh opened up the door and entered his San Diego home. The first thing he noticed as he put down his bags and books was the silence.

It was 3:30 in the afternoon, shouldn't Audrey be home? If not her, at least Megan would be there, wouldn't she?

'_She's probably at a friend's house.' _Josh thought. Oh well, Josh hadn't had sometime by himself for a while, this could be fun!

... It took all of 10 minutes for Josh to realize that alone time with the Josh-man was actually not all that fun, especially since he finished all of his homework at lunch. And as much as he wanted to study for his upcoming exams, which were three weeks away, he couldn't bring himself to open up his stupid books. And he would play his 'Super Bario 73' that his Grammy had just bought him, but he had beat the game almost a month ago, and he didn't work for another couple days so he didn't even have money to buy a new one, either.

Josh was exceedingly bored.

He grudgingly walked up to his room that lay just above the garage. It was a large room, especially when it only held one person. It could easily fit another one, or three, people.

As Josh walked up the steps, he heard a crash.

A bang.

A smash.

Josh felt his chest tighten. Holy crap, he wasn't alone! Who else was in his house? Did they break in? He really hoped it wasn't one of his family/step-family members, Josh couldn't remember if he talked to himself out loud. The image of Josh unknowingly singing loudly also came into mind. Knowing his little step-sister, she probably had camera's hooked up left and right, just to get good to material to put onto her website. If Josh was alone and _singing_ without even realizing it, Megan would definitely get some good material.

"... H-hello?" Josh whispered with extreme caution. Maybe it wasn't Megan! Maybe it wasn't his family members! Maybe it was a burglar, coming to kidnap him and use him to get to his Dad's money... even though his Dad wasn't insanely rich... Maybe it was a crack addict! Maybe it was-

A small head of black hair immediately rounded the corner and started down the stairs, eyes downcast. "Hey, Boob." She greeted.

"M-Megan!" Josh stuttered. "Were you just in my room?" He asked, his shaking beginning to reside from the thoughts of being kidnapped and being held hostage for the money that his Dad didn't have.

"Yes." The little girl stated easily.

"You were in my room? Why were you in my room! It's my room! It's a private and secure area! And I'd like it to stay that way, so please don't-go-in-there." Josh freaked in his usual Josh like manner, meaning arms being thrown around and about with unexplainable facial expressions and twitching of his head.

"It's a private and secure area, huh?" She laughed at him. Josh gave a lopsided grin and just nodded his head.

Megan's smile began to increase. "Well, now I'm not quite so sure if that's true!" With that, Megan giggled and trotted away.

"Evil!" Josh shouted.

"Oh, Josh. Be quiet. By the way, Mom didn't take her pills again today, so you might want to keep the noise level down to a minimum, which I know may be difficult for someone who has unexplainable outbursts... Tourrete's Syndrome, much?" She mocked, before gallivanting around the corner. Josh heard a door slam, and he just stood on the stairs that led up to his one-man bedroom.

Audrey didn't take her pills again?

X~~~X~~~X

"_Sixteen... sixteen.._" She murmured through the skin of her teeth. She sat at the far side of the bed, shoulders shaking. Her back was turned from him."_Sixteen.. sixteen..."_

Josh could hear the anger in her voice form the other side of the door. He had only opened it by an inch and took a glimpse at the state his step-mother was in.

She was a beautiful women, and he could see why his Dad loved her, she just needed to take her anti-depressants to keep her functioning.

Josh took a deep breath before entering the room fully.

"Aurdrey, are you alright?" He asked softly, carefully choosing his words. He instantly regretted his decision. Weren't there better words in the entire English language to ask someone if they're alright, rather than those actual words themselves? If Mindy was here, she'd know what to do. Not only was she a girl who understood how women think, but she also had an internal dictionary the size of Washington State.

She didn't move from her position, or give him any signs that she even recognized his presence. The sombre women just continued to repeat the words '_Sixteen_' with anger, pity and tears.

Josh walked towards her with worry in each step. It was scary dealing with her in these situations.

He saw in her trembling hands a picture. _That_ picture. It was framed in red oak, and it showed boy, smiling widely. He was pale, so the scattered freckles seemed to radiate off his face. He wore a red Padres cap, and a matching red sweater.

The picture, Josh could tell, was taken sometime during the evening. The sunset made a glimmer against the baseball bat in his hands. He was demonstrating his 'awesome' skills for the camera.

His name had been Drake Parker.

Josh took the picture from Audrey's fingers, as he saw the glass protecting it had been shattered.

Audrey placed her head in her trembling palms, trying to stop the flow of her tears. "He would have been sixteen today." She whispered pitifully.

Josh placed the picture on the nightstand and wrapped his arms around his step mother, letting her rest against his side.

"I know."

X~~~X~~~X

When Josh was finally able to calm Audrey down enough and get her to sleep, Josh grabbed his bike and pedaled to the best possible place, just so he could think.

There was a large park near the Parker-Nichols' residence. In a car, it was a twenty minute drive in good traffic. For Josh and his bike, well that was another story.

It was around 6 o'clock when Josh finally arrived at his destination. The park was pretty much the ideal portrait of a picturesque forest. A small stream, large hills that were surrounded by towering trees, all filled to the brim with green leaves.

When Josh was younger, his Dad and him used to come here all the time, but Josh was always a little nervous. The park was huge. Gigantic. Enormous. Any word that could be used as a synonym to 'huge' would best describe the park. He was always scared that he'd get separated from his Dad, get lost, and never be found. Josh knew that, because he was Josh, that was a likely situation, so he was always very careful to stick to the carefully laid out routes.

Not today. As soon as Josh was off his bike, he was off the trail. He made careful notes, just so he would make it back later in time. There was a bush that looked that George Washington. There was the branch that looked like a Dementor's cloak. There were the three poisonous red flowers, right beside the five mushrooms.

Kingdom Plantea? Plants?

Not plants. Kingdom Fungia. Phylum Basidomycota. Class Agaricomycetes. Order Agaricales. Family Tricholomatacea.

Due to research on that particular type of mushroom, Josh knew exactly what it was. He was so going to ace his final exam in Bio! Oh yeah!

At last, Josh found himself walking to the top of an extremely steep hill.

Even from where he was standing, he could see the beauty that was the city of San Diego, from between the tree tops.

He continued to walk to the top, and when he reached it, he was shocked. He found himself at the entrance of a meadow, if you could even call it that. It was just a circle where no plants decided to grow. And he could see why.

A rusting playground made for a single child that you could buy at the local Costco was in the middle of the 'meadow'. There was a tree house, only big enough to fit a five year, and a small slide. Attached to it were two swings, one of which was broken and hanging by a thread to the linked metal. The other swing was much more interesting to Josh. Rusting, and letting out eerie squeaks. It moved back and forth due to the small breeze and the person on top of it.

Huffing and puffing, Josh stared at him, and it was only now that he noticed his own dry throat. Maybe the kid had water!

"H-hey, excuse me?" Josh called out. The boys head whipped towards Josh, shocked by the sound that interrupted his peace.

"Do have water, by chance?" Josh asked out of breath.

The boy shot up and ran from his seat on the swing. He didn't get far, it seemed that he was interested in Josh's being. The boy ran behind a tree for protection, and bore his eyes at Josh.

What the hey? Josh was shocked by the kids reaction. He had never been ran away from before! Except for that one time at the theatre when he had been cleaning the bathroom, and someone thought it'd be funny to place a bucket on his head. A bucket which Josh could not get off on his own. A girl, who had been no older than three, thought he was the bucket man from that horror movie ' The Bucket Man' coming to get her. Other than that, he was a Josh. A humble giant, everyone knew that!

No need to run away from Joshie!

Josh lifted his hands towards to boy, who at this point, was about 20 ft. away from him. Josh could only see one of his eyes, a bit of his tousled dark brown hair, and his hand holding onto the bark. Josh could see from where he was standing that the he was very pale, and the bone at the wrist seemed to protrude from his skin a bit more than it should.

"I guess you don't have water than." Josh laughed. He took a step closer to the boy. The boy saw this and took a small step back himself in panic.

Not wanting to scare him, whoever he was, Josh smiled softly and pointed towards the swing set, indicating that he was walking towards the swing set, and not the boy.

The boy nodded in disbelief, and Josh freely walked towards the swing and sat down.

When asked later on, Josh admitted that his biggest worry at that moment was that he would break the swing. It was made for five year olds and rusting, and even though he was slimming, he still wasn't considered thin and fit quite yet.

Josh watched the swing of the tree tops and felt somewhat woozy, but ignored the feeling. He was rather interested in this new discovery. A rusting swing set, a pale, scared young boy. Why, this was a scene straight out of a horror movie! Except Josh felt no fear.

"Do you live around here?" Josh asked after minutes of silence. He glanced towards the boy behind the tree. Half of his body was now showing. Josh could tell that the boy was trying to get a better look at him.

From the look of his face, he seemed to be around Josh's age.

"Are you lost?" Josh tried again, gripping onto the metal link, hoping to stop the squeaking of the seat.

The boy's eyes looked at Josh questioningly, as if he was speaking another language.

"Umm... By the way, I'm Josh." He said, stretching out his hand. It was a universal gesture, wasn't it? Even if the boy was from another country... or planet, he'd understand what he meant by 'Josh' and holding out his right palm... wouldn't he?

The boy took a step out from behind the tree, watching Josh with a suspicious look.

Josh could see that the boys eyes were a dark brown, and they almost perfectly matched his lengthy hair.

"Bud!-" A voice broke through the silence. "Bud, come here now!" The boy whipped his head towards the sound of the voice. He glanced at Josh one more time, before running in the other direction and down the other side of the hill.

Josh was shocked by the sudden burst of energy that the boy exhibited to get away. He was shocked, and a little hurt.

In interest to see where the boy went, Josh forced himself from the swing. He ran to the direction where the boy stood moments ago and walked until he found himself at - shockingly- the edge of a cliff.

Holllyyy crow!

Josh's phobia of heights kicked in in an instant, and Josh had to step back three feet and latch onto a large chunk of wood, just so he knew that he wouldn't fall. But, he wanted to see where the boy went! He wanted to know what was at the bottom.

"Come on, do it! Don't be such a wimp! Do it! Do_ it_!" Josh yelled at himself with a shaking voice.

Taking a deep gulp of air, Josh pried his eyes open, and let them wander down the edge of the cliff.

Tucked away into the trees, Josh could see a rusting trailer. It was probably close to being 30 yards away from where Josh was standing/sitting/holding onto for dear life.

He could see an older man with darm brown hair outside of the trailer, shouting for the boy to come as if he were a dog.

"What the-" Josh said to himself out loud. It was becoming a habit, talking to himself without realizing it.

Josh wanted to stay longer, just to catch another glimpse of the mystery boy, but he felt a small, cold prick on his wrist. There was another. And another. And another.

Finally, a loud crack in the air, and an increase in the wind made Josh realize the greying clouds quickly approaching him.

His Dad had said something about a thunder storm, didn't he? Josh looked up and realized that his Dad _did_ say something about a storm, and that it had been today's forecast. Still holding onto the cunk of wood, Josh cautiously looked towards the opposite direction. The sun was setting for the day.

There were only a few minutes of orange and red light left.

Josh now had to escape the grips of the forest, and the edge of the cliff, in a thunder storm and -oh joy!- no light.

"Awww, man!" Josh yelled in anguish.

Josh began to force himself to let go of the bark. He could now feel the splinters creating small marks in his red hands.

One step... Two step... three step... four step!- Josh was far enough away from the ledge to run back to safety. Reaching the entrance of the meadow with the rusting playground Josh began to mope, knowing he had to now make it back home all by himself. Just his luck!

In all of his concentration, he hadn't even noticed the pale boy with brown hair staring at him from the bottom of the cliff, just in front of the trailer.

The boy was making sure he made it back to the meadow safely.

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><p>Chapter donee!<p>

I'm so used to writing 1st person, it's wierd writing from 3rd! But it's fun and a challenge, haha :p Until next time...

Review :)


	3. Chapter 2

New update! Yay! Alittle later than I had imagined, but oh well. Life has gotten in the way of writing, and inspiration faded for a couple of days :p

And all questions about Drake will hopefully be answered by Chapters 5 and 6 (it is only skimmed upon in this chapter). His story plays a rather large role in this fan fic :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Drake and Josh

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><p>Every day for a week and a half after that day, Josh left the normal path in the park and walked up to the small meadow, in hopes of seeing the boy.<p>

Josh was interested. And the more he thought of the strange encounter, the more bizarre it became. His imagination began to get in the way, and by the following Wednesday, the boy, in Josh's mind, was 6'4 ft, had long black hair, and was so severely malnourished that it showed by the hallow of his cheeks. It even began to turn into the idea that the boy had black eyes and fangs.

Josh needed to stay away from those pesky vampire flicks. He needed a life.

Finally Saturday came, and Josh found himself near the top of the hill yet again. He packed himself a little lunch, and even brought his school books to study. Exams were only a week away, therefore every moment was precious and needed to be focused on his education... This actually meant that Josh was bored out of his gourd, and that Mindy went up to her cabin for the weekend again, his Dad was working, Craig&Eric were off doing something... Craig&Eric-ish, and asking Megan to hangout was like willingly knocking Death's door and asking to be let in to bake a pie. The outcome was just not good.

Josh hid himself behind a few dead branches and a large bush in hopes that, if the boy did come, he wouldn't see him and run away, if he was even still around.

Josh sighed and ran his hand through his curly raven locks.

"Okay-" Josh began to say, "Which sound device is used in 'murmur of their stories ' on Line 18. Is it

A) Alliteration

B) Cacophony

C) Internal Rhyme, or

D) Onomatopoeia

"Murmur of their stories. It is the murmur of their stories," Josh said with humour in his voice. Quickly his voice switched to low and husky, "It is the murmurrrr of the their stories." Josh listened to the sound of his own voice in his head before nodding.

"It's C) Internal Rhyme! Duh!" Little did Josh know that the answer was in fact D) Onomatopoeia, and not C) Internal Rhyme. English was never Josh's best subject. There was never one correct answer, so Josh needed to work hard to be able to prove his thoughts, which he could do on an essay, or composition. Multiple Choice was another realm of frustrating all together. There was no explanations or hints given. No logic. It was either A or B, choose the better of the two right answers. It really wasn't fair.

A break of a branch from the other side of the field shocked Josh out of his studying.

The boy who, much to Josh's surprise was not 6'4 ft, even yet was barely 5'9 ft, walked towards the swing set. He never noticed Josh watching from behind the bush.

The boy ran a white hand over the rusting metal links that connected to the one still working swing, before taking a seat and beginning to push himself back and forth ever so slightly.

The breeze moved the boy's dark brown bangs from his pale face. Josh noticed the loose black shirt, and skinny jeans that had holes, rips, and dirt dispersed irregularly on them. The small smile placed on his face did not reach his eyes.

Getting up the nerve to move instead of watch, Josh rose from behind to bush. He gathered all of his equipment and walked into the meadow slowly, as to not scare him. It annoyed Josh that he was treating the boy as if he was a deer. An animal. He wasn't an animal, he was a person, although...

People were invertebrates. Invertebrates were Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Chordata, Class Mammalia, Order Primate, Family Homindae. Between a person and a deer, the similarities stopped, according to biology, at Class Mammalia, where Humans began to walk and lose hair and talk, while Deer's lost hoofs, grew larger and their methods of interacting with sounds stayed the same.

The boy's head shot towards Josh, eyes widening, but he didn't move from his seat.

Josh finally allowed himself to glance upwards. "Ohh! I didn't know you were here!" He lied while overacting. "I'm just studying for my exams. You don't mind do you?" Josh pointed to the slide. The boy shook his head, the look of '_what the fuck is going on'_ plastered to his face.

Josh sat down on the slide, smiling. The boy hadn't run away, that's a good sign right?

Josh lifted his English book to his lap, opening it up and regarding the bolded words that explained the difference between 'juxtaposition', 'paradox' and 'oxymoron'. He really didn't want to study, especially now that _he_ was here. Whoever _he _was.

"I'm not sure if you heard me the other day, but I'm Josh Nichols." Josh smiled from his seat. He decided it would be best not to look up. He didn't really want to know the boy's reaction. He just wished he would say something... or maybe whip out an apple and eat it. He looked like he needed the nutrients. Josh guessed this from the way his already skinny jeans with way to many holes seemed to hang limply on his hips.

"I am 15 years old, but I am almost 16, so I can get my license soon!" Josh exclaimed overly-happy. The thought was exciting, but if the kid didn't speak English, maybe over emphasizing everything by the sound of his voice could help create a conversation. And, what made Josh a little more positive was that according to his history textbook, Christopher Columbus was able to interact with the natives of the land, and they didn't speak the same language, so Josh shouldn't have such a hard time in modern times, now should he?

Josh tried to take his thoughts away from the idea of talking to a foreigner who refused to talk to him. So Josh went to the next best thing. He was about to turn sixteen! He could begin driving Mindy to school, driving to the grocery store to buy food, driving to work. Josh could begin driving, and he could barely contain his excitement.

"I have a girlfriend." Josh began, quickly changing the subject as to keep the strange boy's seemingly non-existent interest. "Her name is Mindy. She is one of brightest people I know... and she's gorgeous. I love her. It's so strange to think: Me, in love. Everyone thinks that teenagers, such as myself, can't be in love, but my experience seems to tell me differently. I love her. I really, really do. I think I'd be devastated if anything were to happen..." Josh had no idea why he was talking, or even why he was saying things that he had never said before. He had never even quite told Mindy the exact words 'I Love You'. Josh guessed that he just needed to stop the silence.

Josh began to stammer. Was the boy still there. Was he listening? Why wasn't he answering? He could talk, right? Even if his mother tongue wasn't English.

"My Dad, his name is Walter, is the local weatherman for Channel 7 News. He's very proud of his position. He won't admit it, ever, but he is jealous of this other weatherman, Bruce Winshield… Do you know of him?" Josh quieted for a second, waiting for a response that never came. The eerie sounds of rusting swings moving pitched themselves through the air.

Refusing to look up, Josh shook his head and continued to do what he did best. Talk about anything and everything. "It's really funny. We aren't allowed to say Bruce's name in our house. It's forbidden. M-my little sister, Megan, well I guess my step-sister Megan – who is EVIL!-" Josh let his hands fly up in the air, to somehow show that, by raising his hands in the air, his little sister was in fact evil... Ya, it didn't make sense to Josh either, but it made him feel better. "She talks about Bruce nonstop, just to annoy my Dad. She says that she loves his hair, and his suits, and that he's a hottie with a body, which is inappropriate language for a girl her age, but it's all just to annoy Dad... I hope... He goes ballistic, but not in a bad way. I would never do it, it just seems mean, but it is really funny." Josh tried to stop himself somewhere in the middle of his rambling, one-sided conversation, but he couldn't find a an accurate place to stop.

Josh could see the boy pushing his shoe into the dirt, kicking the rocks gently. '_He still isn't gone_!' Josh thought with excitement. That was a good sign… Okay, keep talking!

"My 'evil' step-sister Megan has been my step-sister for over a year now. Her Mom and my Dad met each other about four years ago, and after about three years of being in a relationship, decided to get married. It was the one and only day that Megan didn't called me a 'boob' and didn't pull a prank on me." A snort abruptly escaped from the boy's throat. Josh's head flung up, absolutely shocked by any sound coming from him. The boy was smiling a true smile. His lips were kept tight against each other, but that didn't faze Josh. The boy was looking straight at him, completely at ease and seemingly enjoying Josh's rambling.

Josh smiled his award winning grin. "Ya, Megan lovvves to pull pranks. One time, she put dish soap up and down the stairs leading to my room. It was late at night, and about an hour before bed time, she bet me ten dollars that I couldn't drink 5 glasses of water. I said I could, and I won the bet. She to be angry and left, stomping to her room. After that, I learned _why_ she bet me. I figured out that an hour after you drink 5 glasses of water, you really need to go to the bathroom. So, I flew open my door and charged down the steps... which were covered by a strange, slimy and slippery substance. I got to the bathroom in time, but not entirely in one piece. I had to go to Emergency Room after that... I tell you, the girl is evil! Especially since that prank was just icing on top of the cake"!" Josh started to laugh at his own story. He remembered falling down the steps, and the searing pain in his wrist, but he also just remembered his ambition to get to the bathroom. And, Josh could never emphasize this fact enough, he had made it!

With bony fingers, Josh watched as the boy brushed the bangs out of his face. It didn't seem to do much good, yet it didn't faze him. With his foot, the boy started to create lines in the dirt.

Josh thought it was out of boredom. It took a minute for him to realize that the boy was actually asking Josh a question, and that it wasn't just from boredom.

Josh stared at the word in the dirt. MOTHER? It spelled. English. The word was in English! Oh joy and hallelujah and every other good word possible, the boy could speaken ze english!

Josh tried with all of his might not to smile so wide that it looked like someone was stretching the sides of his mouth. So instead, Josh thought of the word written in the dirt. His momentary joy passed, and he shook his head sadly. "No, no. My own Mother passed when I was around four. She was very nice, and she could bake like no tomorrow. Oh my gosh, I can still remember her cookies. Double Chocolate Chip with pistachios. All warm, delicate and tender, coming straight from the oven. I'd eat the whole pan before the cooled off." Josh smiled. He remembered that all right. He loved his Mother. Her long black hair, and the way it curled into tiny ringlets all around her head. Her vanilla smelling perfume that always seemed to linger on her body. Even after she passed, that smell remained around the house for what seemed to be forever. At four years old and ignorant to the word 'death', Josh was completely fine with the smell staying around longer than his own Mother.

Watching the boys questioning eyes, Josh sighed. "She fell asleep. And she never woke up. The doctor said that her heart wasn't strong enough, or something. She was a bigger woman, not over weight, but big boned. I guess her heart just couldn't take it anymore..."

Nervously, Josh ran a hand through his hair. It was a habit he had acquired from her, so he made sure that whenever he felt nervous, he'd run a hand through his hair, and he would think of his Mother. Thinking of her always made the nerves go away and look towards the positive side of things.

"I have a new Mother now. She's very funny… and pretty. Her cookies aren't quite the same, but I'm okay with that. And she smells more like flowers and cinnamon than vanilla."

Josh watched as the boy closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath of air. The way he smiled, Josh knew that he could understand perfectly what he just said. He could smell the flowers and cinnamon, and it made him happy. Happiness. That's an emotion that does not resemble fear or confusion in any way! That's good!

"She's really nice. But, she has some issues. She has to take anti-depressant pills to keep her happy and functioning. She told me once that she hated it, and they changed the person she truly was, but she needed to take them so she could take care of Megan." Josh said. He closed his English book and put it onto the ground. He watched as the sun grew closer and closer towards the earth. The shimmer of the orange and reds on the water. It was another reason why he loved the city.

Josh's attention was turned abruptly back to the ground, as the boy with no name or voice began writing a new message. 'WHY?'

This was easier to say, since Josh had no emotional connection to the story. For him, it was like writing an article for his newspaper, or watching a News Broadcaster on television. "... Her son was kidnapped when he was very young. It took three whole years before they found his body on the side of a riverbank. They identified it by his clothes and teeth, the body had been... to mangled to identify with anything else. She couldn't handle it. She loved her son. I mean, if it were me, I wouldn't be able to handle it either. I don't know what I would do. It's every parent's worst nightmare, and she lived through it. Witnessed it. But she had Megan to take care of, so she couldn't let herself dwell on the past. She never let herself grieve, so she's kind of paying for it now. Her ex-husband, I feel for him. He really loves her, and he is a really nice guy. I like him. He helped me when I had some issues with Mindy. But, he mostly sticks around for Megan. Audrey and him are good friends, but apparently the sight of him is an exact image of her late son, so that marriage quickly fell apart when she made that discovery. She told him that, and since he really did love her, he left her like a true gentleman would. My Dad said I would be lucky if I turned into half the man he was." Josh explained the scenario with a sullen tone. He felt that if he portrayed any other emotion, even a sad laugh, it would be a disrespect to Audrey and her situation.

Josh went on about how Audrey had mood swings. She would be happy and cheery one day, and falling apart the next. It was so strange, like a snap of a finger and _whoop!_ She's different. He loved her every which way, he just wished he could bring back her son, even if that meant him never having another Mother, or his Dad finding happiness.

Josh often wondered, if Drake Parker had survived childhood, would they be friends? If their parents got together, would they share the room above the garage together? They would have to. Josh also liked to imagine that in a parallel world, him and 'Drake' were playing pool together, both happy, and that the biggest problem in life was the fact that they couldn't get dates for Friday night... even though Josh liked to imagine Mindy in that parallel universe as well. So the date thing wouldn't be an issue for him.

The boys grip grew tighter against the cold metal, and his movement on the swing increased the slightest amount. His dark eyes, that had held a small gleam in them moments before, were now empty. Glazed over with emotion. The look bothered Josh.

It took a loud grumble of the boys stomach to bring them both back into reality. The boy's face reddened from embarrassment as he latched onto his stomach.

"Are you hungry?" Josh asked.

The boy made no signs of response, so Josh took matters into his own hands. He bent over and grabbed his backpack, searching for any discarded food that he brought up for his one man picnic.

"I should have something... maybe.. in here... somewhere... I should.. it should be... Ah ha!" Josh exclaimed, reaching his hand from the depths of his backpack and bringing forth a small homemade granola bar.

Josh unwrapped it and held out the food to the boy, who watched it with fearful, wide eyes.

"You can have it. Here, take it."

The boy flinched, but outstretched his own arm, place his shaking fingers on the granola. It seconds, he found the courage to take it, and began to bite into it greedily.

Josh noticed, as the boy pulled his hand back towards him, a large bruise lay against his elbow. It was brightly coloured with different shades of purple and yellow.

"... W-where did that bruise come from?" Josh asked cautiously. The boy bit into the granola, seemingly ignoring Josh.

Josh watched as he bit, chewed and swallowed. It took three repeats of this process and licking of fingers for the granola to be completely gone.

"Wow, you are hungry.." Josh said, trying to get the image of the bruise out of his mind. Was it just him, or was the bruise in the shape of a hand? It must just be his mind playing tricks on him again!

Finally, Josh got up from his seat, grabbing his bag and books. The boy flinched at the sudden movement, yet he remained seated. "Do you have a name?" Josh asked, the beginning colours of dusk shading his face.

The boy glanced towards him as a familiar voice cut through the trees.

"Bud! Come here now!" In a matter of seconds, the boy was on his feet, running towards the cliff and voice, leaving Josh behind without a second glance.

Josh smiled to himself. He was astounded and ecstatic at what had just took place. Bud. The boys name was Bud. And he listened to Josh talk. He smiled as he listened to Josh talk.

'_Well, Bud_.' Josh thought to himself. '_Looks like you just made a new friend.'_

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><p>Chapptterr donnne!<p>

A/N: Is it noticeable that I wrote this during my exams? :p

Review :)


	4. Chapter 3

It's been awhile since I last updated, hmmm... Sorry! I had a free day today so I thought that I might as well update today, haha :p

Disclaimer: I do not own Drake and Josh

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><p>"Hey... Josh? Josh, I think that we should call my Dad." Megan said quietly, trying to hide the desperation in her voice. She hid her small body behind Josh for protection. Josh was doing the same, save the fact that he was hiding his own body behind a wall, rather than a large body.<p>

"Ya... ya, Megan go call your Dad. He'll know what to do." Josh said, placing his hands on Megan and pushing her backwards towards an area with a phone.

"_You fucking bastard!"_ She screamed from the empty room down the hall.

Josh's Dad had left for business three days ago, and was coming back in two days. That had left Josh and Megan in Audrey's hands. Usually, this didn't affect anyone, but the simple fact that her late sons sixteenth birthday had just passed, and barely anyone seemed to noticed had angered her.

He would have been sixteen by now, with a license, with a life, maybe a girlfriend. But he didn't, did he? Her son was dead, and no one could bring him back. Why couldn't anyone understand that?

The thing that tormented her most was knowing that he was scared, in pain, and his Mother was nowhere to hold him. He was alone when he died. If anything, that was what brought her to the edge insanity. That, and not taking her pills for three full days.

She had been having relapses. Going through fazes with pills, than without pills. She didn't like herself when she was on the anti-depressants. They made her into the happy person which she was obviously not. She didn't like that. Why couldn't people just let her be herself? Why couldn't they just leave her alone?

Dammit, why couldn't they bring back her son, huh? With all of today's modern day technology, had nobody seemed to invent that particular creation which was so obviously needed?

Audrey hurled the already broken picture of the child she once loved and held and read stories to, smashing it into bits and pieces against the wall. It broke even further, and she couldn't handle it.

She latched onto pieces of her hair, placing her hands over her ears strategically so she wouldn't hear herself scream. She didn't need to hear any other voices.

Josh stood behind the corner down the hall. He flinched, and clutched onto the wood further when he heard her scream.

He wouldn't say that he was a religious type of person. Sure, his family went to Church every Christmas Eve, but other than that, Josh had very rarely ever stepped into a church and even more rarely ever thought about God. As of right now, Josh was praying to the Lord that Megan's Dad would get his butt over to the Nichols-Parker residence as soon as freaking possible.

Megan returned the phone to its proper placement, making sure it stayed, before bouncing back up to Josh.

"He's coming." She whispered to him. Her hands grabbed onto pieces of his shirt, listening to the screams and shouts from her mother. Megan liked to think of herself as a girl wise beyond her years. Incredibly intelligent, beautiful, a child prodigy in the acting, spying and pranking department.

It was when her Mom was hysterical that she was reminded of her age, and the fact that she was a measly 4'9 ft. tall. Megan could feel Josh shaking from underneath her finger tips.

"He'll be here soon." She promised. "There's a reason why he lives just around the corner." Megan tried to laugh, but nothing seemed to come out.

As if on cue, a body appeared from the stairwell. The aged man turned around, only to see Josh and Megan's heads peeking out from behind the corner.

"Where is she?" He asked loudly.

Josh had no clue how answer such a simple question. He remained in his position, staring at the doorway leading to his step mother. Megan took the lead, and stepped out from behind Josh. Without even a word, she lifted her finger, pointing towards the bedroom.

The man nodded and ran into the room.

So much was said, yet not a single word was spoken. Josh was shocked. Ever since he met the silent boy, 'Bud', over a month ago, he was beginning to see how often gestures were used in replacement of words. It amazed him.

Josh could hear Megan's Dad soothing Audrey, whispering 'Shhh... Shhh...' every now and then.

It took the man a total of 20 minutes to calm his ex-wife, and put her to bed. Josh could hear him get up from the mattress. He watched as he ran quickly towards the kitchen.

The man grabbed a glass of water and secretly placed two of Audrey's prescribed pills in it. His hope was that they would dissolve, and they'd help her get a hold of herself, even if only for a few hours. Quickly, he ran back up to the room, and placed the water on the nightstand beside Audrey's head. He silently stroked the hair from her head and as he left the room, he couldn't help but remember the dry tear stains on Audrey's face.

Josh watched the entire scene with intent. The man did everything with a calm and collected demeanour and strength that Josh wished he possessed.

"Thanks, Dad." Megan said, breaking the eerie silence.

Josh let out the breath that he seemed to be holding during the entire escapade.

"Ya, thanks Owen."

Owen Parker smiled sadly at the two children. No one should ever have to witness that, especially between the ages of 12 and 15. He put his hands and both of their shoulders, and brought them both out from behind the corner. He led them downstairs towards the kitchen.

"It was no problem. I'm glad you called me. I wouldn't have had a clue what to do at your guys age." He tried to laugh.

The man placed Josh and Megan into the chairs and walked over to the stove top drates, automatically heating a kettle that had been placed their earlier during that day.

His hands began opening cabinets, moving items out of the way, placing and replacing objects. Finally, after 10 minutes, he let out a battered sigh as he gave up his search. "Okay, I'm assuming since you guys own a kettle, and that it was full with water, and there were three dry cups next to it on the counter, you own tea. Correct me if I'm wrong."

"Third shelf to your left. They're at the top." Josh replied.

The man followed Josh's instructions, and settled on the organic Chai Tea. It had always been his favourite. Chai Tea, and black Coffee… A Budweiser was never that bad every now and then, either.

In seconds, he placed three hot steamy cups of tea on the table.

Josh let himself glance towards the man. He had vanishing freckles plastered onto his face, and chestnut brown eyes. It seemed with a full head of brown verging on the side of auburn, his eyes matched his head. Tall, broad. There wasn't anything to hideous about him, but there wasn't anything splendid about him either. He was average. It was just his way to handle any situation that made him kick-ass in both Josh and Megan's eyes.

"So how are you two doing? It's not every day that your Mother acts like that." He asked, taking a sip of his tea.

Megan followed in suite, taking a sip of her own tea, before answering the question at hand. "Not every day, but it's coming close to it." She stated easily.

"Your Mother is just going through some stuff, Megan. Give her time." Owen tried to say kindly.

"It's been 12 years since he was taken. Nine years since his body was found. I don't even remember him." Megan yelled coldly. "It's been 12 years, Dad. She should be over it by now. You are! And look at Josh! It's been twelve years since his Mom died, and he handled it fine!" Megan slammed her tea against the table, demonstrating her frustration for the two viewers in the room.

Angered and with a loud huff, she spontaneously raised herself from her seat, and walked out of the kitchen.

"One day she'll have a child. And she'll understand the pain and fear of losing that child. I hope to god that she never experiences it firsthand." Owen said as he watched his black haired little girl leave the room. Where the black hair came from was beyond him. Apparently Audrey's Father had black hair, Audrey had got her sandy brown hair from her Mother. Owen tried to picture her with black hair... Heh, he came to very quick conclusion that Audrey was very lucky to have obtained her mother's genes and sandy brown hair.

"So how are you, Josh?" Owen asked, removing the picture of Audrey with black hair out of his head.

Josh nodded his head. "I'm good. Fine. Fine."

"So, by 'Fine' you mean: Fucked up, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional?" Owen laughed, teasing Josh.

Josh stared at his Chai Tea, feeling his heavy shoulders throb from the entire situation.

Josh would call Mindy, but she had a family dinner to attend that night. And if there was one thing Josh learned about the Crenshaw family, it's that you don't interrupt a family dinner. Ever. No matter what the reasoning.

"How did exams go?" Owen asked. He knew that the kid was intelligent, and that his goal was to get into Harvard University after his senior year. By how hard he worked, he knew that Josh had the ability to do it. Now his self esteem and confidence on the other hand, he wasn't so sure of.

"They were fine. I got 99% on every single one of them... Except English. I got a 96% in English." Josh stated.

"Ohh... What brought you down?" Owen asked.

"The Multiple choice section."

"Ya, those Multiple Choice Sections. They're a bitch."

"Yupp." Josh nodded, taking in the complete awkwardness of the situation.

Glancing towards the digital clock in the kitchen, Josh noticed that it said 6: 34 pm...

Maybe his silent friend was in the Meadow. 'Bud' was always there around 6 and 7 pm for some strange reason. Maybe he could talk to him about this. He always listened, asked questions with his shoe in the dirt, and never judged. Josh could use that kind of person right now.

"I-I'm sorry, Owen. I have to go... I have to... "

"What do you have to do, Buddy?" Owen had a habit of calling everyone he knew and saw 'Buddy' or 'Pal'. It annoyed Josh to no end.

"Work. Ya, Work. Works, ahoy!" Josh exclaimed, getting up from his seat and pitching the tea down the drain. He forced a large smile on his face, along with a very fake laugh. Owen didn't seem to notice however, and for that, Josh was grateful.

"Thanks again for Audrey, and good luck talking to Megan." Josh offered, trying to get out of the kitchen as soon as humanly possible.

"Ya, no problem. Have fun at work, Bud!"

Without a second thought, Josh threw himself out the door, grabbing his bike and backpack, pedaling off towards the Park.

X~~~X~~~X

Josh entered the Meadow. He saw Bud's eyes looking downward, staring at a caterpillar crawling across the rocks.

"Hey, Bud." Josh said.

Ever since the first time Josh actually talked to Bud, he came back practically every night. Josh talked, Bud listened, until he was called by some unknown being. It was like a silent agreement to meet up every night, and Josh was thankful for it.

A week ago, Bud actually waved goodbye before running off down the side of the cliff. Now? He waved goodbye each night.

It was progress!

Bud looked up towards Josh and offered a small smile.

"How are you today?" Josh asked, placing his butt onto the slide. The slide had been designated 'Josh's Spot'. It was proven by Josh's writing on top of the slide with his black felt tip marker a few weeks back.

Bud nodded his head, before going back to his watching of the caterpillar who continued to crawl. It's brown and red colours bunch together as it contracted and expanded its tiny boy.

"My step-mom went crazy again today." Josh began to say. "We had to phone Megan's Dad to come save us. He was able to stop her from throwing pictures against the wall, and he even put her to sleep! ... Oh… Ohhh... dang!"

Bud turned to Josh with a sceptical look on his face, silently asking 'What's the problem?'

"Sorry, I just realized that someone needs to clean up the glass shards from those pictures. Ahh, jeez…"

Bud let out a small laugh. The laugh was quickly misplaced with a roar from his stomach. Bud looked up to Josh, obviously embarrassed that his stomach seemed to like to talk more than he did.

By the look in his eyes, Josh knew he was apologizing.

"That reminds me-" Josh said, grabbing his backpack. He opened the zipper, and from the darkness of the bag, Josh reached in and grabbed an extremely large square of his famous 'Fudgey Boo' brownies. He had made them for Bud. His internal goal was to get Bud to gain ten pounds before going off to University in two years. It shouldn't be too hard, Josh liked to think to himself.

He placed them in Bud's lap, and watched the astonishment replace the bored look on Bud's pale face.

Bud carefully placed his fingertip onto the brownies, as if touching them would make them disappear.

"Eat it. Go ahead!" Josh insisted. Bud didn't need any more input. He quickly unwrapped the Fudgey Boo's from their plastic wrap and began shoving the pieces into his mouth. Josh could hear the moan escape his throat as the taste of them reached his tongue.

"Like them?" Josh asked as Bud swallowed and shovelled another piece into his mouth. Bud began nodding his head up and down very quickly.

"That's good!" Bud tried to smile from behind the mouthful of brownie. It seemed to Josh that he never had tasted anything like it. But, how was that possible? This was America. Josh didn't know a single child that had never tasted a brownie!

Josh sighed, his mind quickly wavering from his new, silent friend and slowly back to Audrey. She was his Step-Mother. He hated to see her in pain.

"I don't understand why she's going crazy. Why now? Why not then?" Josh said out loud.

Bud stopped chewing and turned towards Josh. He dropped the rest of the brownie to his lap, and placed his skinny fingers against Josh in comfort.

"Thanks," Josh said sadly. "It's just, my sister Megan was right. He died over seven years ago, her son. I understand that it's something you never get passed, but I didn't think that her denial and anger would begin _now._ I mean, why didn't it start when they found the body? The police identified it as her son. It was his teeth, his cap, his sweatshirt. His shoes... his hair... I just don't understand why it would take someone seven years to fall apart."

It was obvious to Josh that Bud had no clue how to help. His trembling fingers rubbed Josh's back, and Josh pretended that he didn't notice the bruise near his neck, that peeked out from behind his black t-shirt.

That was another thing about Bud. He always showed up with a new bruise. A new scratch. A never healing scar.

Whatever situation he was in, it wasn't a good one.

Finally, after a day of a rollercoaster of emotions, Josh got up the courage to ask, "Why don't you speak? You have a voice. I've heard you laugh... kind of..."

Bud immediately took his hand away from Josh as if he was just burned from a pot of boiling water.

He opened his mouth, trying to form words. Nothing came out, except a small, gravelly grunt.

"Bud, come here now!" The voice cut through the forest, indicating that their session had ended for the day. Josh wanted to grab Bud's hand, and stop him from leaving. He wanted to get him to talk. To speak. To say something as simple as 'Hello'. Josh also knew that tonight wasn't the night for that, especially since Bud was already sprinting through the forest and down towards the rusting trailer.

Josh sighed. He was alone, yet again.

This was becoming a common occurrence, and that was something which Josh hated.

X~~~X~~~X

A lonely Josh glanced towards his watch. 1:23 am. It shone at him in a dim, green light from the expensive watch on his wrist.

Josh watched the sunset through the trees. The colour mixing with the water as it exited his part of the world for the day.

Josh watched as all the lights began to turn on in all the households. He wondered if the same was being done at his home. Obviously, there was no light emitting from the room atop of the garage tonight.

Josh had to say, his favourite observation from that summer night was the mixed colours coming from the harbour. The boats that bounced with the waves, made their small night lights bounce and jump across the liquid. Yellow one second, pitch black the next. It was a dance, and Josh loved to watch it's unchoreographed patterns. It was breathtaking.

Josh continued to sit atop of the slide, watching the starts in the distance. He was lucky. It wasn't a cold night, and Josh had brought a blanket with him to keep him warm. He also liked to imagine that it protected him from any wild animals that may be lurking.

At that particular moment in time, as Josh eyed the stars, attempting to find the shapes created by his mind in the sky, he had no frets about the animals. This was so strange, considering that he was Josh. Josssshhhh. The kid who bought SPF 100 so he could be secure against future skin cancer. Ya, true story! And it cost a freakin' fortune.

A snap of a branch brought Josh out of his thoughts. He gripped onto the sides of his blanket as he heard the footsteps softly approaching.

Josh tried to make himself one with slide, hoping that whoever it was, or whatever it was, wouldn't see him. He allowed his green eyes to glance from behind the blanket. From the corner of the swing set, he saw Bud watching him in the moonlight. The fall of dusk against his skin made him look a thousand times more pale than he normally was.

If Josh was correct, than the darkened colour beneath his nose was dried blood.

The boy looked up, and stared at Josh.

They watched each other for a few moments, before Bud sighed. He placed his white hand on top of his head, shifting his bangs so that, this time, they were in front of his eyes. He did this so he wouldn't be able to see.

"…. Why are you being so nice to me?" The hoarse voice croaked, wavering along with the breeze.

Josh's eyes shot open.

_He talks._

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><p>Chappppterr donne<p>

Review :)


	5. Chapter 4

This has been annoying me since I started this fic, so I need to post this chapter NOW so I can get off my chest. Gahh! haha. And I want to change the summary, but I'm having trouble coming up with a new one :p

Disclaimer: I do not own Drake and Josh

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><p>"So I said, that's not my laundry, that's my foot!" Eric said loudly, ending his own joke with a large snorting laugh. Craig was one step behind him with his own loud snort.<p>

Mindy giggled, reaching for another frie from the middle of the table.

The four of them decided that, being two weeks into summer break and not seeing each other once, they had to get together or risk going through withdrawal. So, of course that meant hanging out the entire day at the mall in the food court, eating fatty and greasy burgers and fries. There was the potential that greasy popcorn, while watching a bad horror film, could enter their never ending stomachs as well.

Josh, unlike the rest of his friends, was busy watching everyone else in the food court. He observed the elderly couple, who walked slowly through the aisles of chairs and tables, hand in hand. Josh could tell that their greying love was still there. He could see it in their eyes.

He watched the two girls who he guessed were sisters due to their similar noses, blond curls and facial expressions. He watched the younger one take a sip of her drink, while the other one rattled off about some unknown subject. Her well manicured hands were flying up the air, creating gestures. She bit her lip. Something was obviously bothering her.

He watched as a toddler ran around his parents table as they ate their Chinese food. It's energy that never went away created laughs for the kids parents.

Josh wondered. If he brought his Dad, Megan, and Audrey here, what would other's see them doing? Eating and drinking? Laughing and talking? Just walking around aimlessly?

Josh had no idea, especially since Audrey was beginning to fall off the deep end. Walter had no idea what to do. He even consulted Megan and Josh one night after dinner about how to sneak Audrey's pills into her.

After a long discussion, Walter decided that he was going to take her up to a small resort up coast in the Rockie Mountains, for a romantic getaway. Maybe the fresh air would do her some good.

Megan made plans to stay with her Dad for a few days, and Josh was left to his own devices, taking care of the house.

Everyone left that very morning.

Everything was seemingly falling apart. Wasn't everything supposed to fall apart when a teenager has their heartbroken? And not when a step mom is in depression due to a son that was kidnapped and killed years ago? If Josh didn't know any better, he'd say that he was in a pretty messed up situation. He was Josh. He was a good guy. Why did he deserve to have to go home and be forced to watch it all?

He had good grades! He was an exceptional student.

Maybe in another life he was Mussolini, or Josef Mengele, and this was his eternal punishment.

Maybe it was karma? He did accidently sit on the one kids lunchbox his first day of second grade, destroying his pants, the kids lunch, and the lunchbox. Maybe this is all punishment for that one accident?

Could happen.

"Josh? You doing alright, Josh?"

The worried voices of his friends snapped Josh out of his prior thoughts. "Oh, what?" Josh asked lightly.

"Dude, you were just staring at your pop for like five minutes." Craig said, slurping his own diet soda.

Mindy, who's worried seemed to surpass both Craig&Eric's, put her hand on Josh's back, rubbing it considerately.

Josh glanced at all the concerned expressions of his friends. He had no idea how to ease their worries.

"I'm alright, I just realized the time and figured that I had better be going home." Josh said with a false smile.

Mindy cocked here head questioningly as she witnessed the lie in Josh's statement "But it's only 2:15, and the show starts at 3:00!" She said somewhat startled by Josh, who was currently getting up to leave.

"I know, but I just remembered that I have work to do." Josh replied absent mindly. With that, Josh grabbed his bag and his drink, and started towards the exit on the other side of the food court.

He was seconds away from freedom when he felt a small hand on the arch of his back.

"Josh, can I talk to you for a moment?" The voice of girlfriend called out to him. Josh flinched automatically. Those were never good words.

"Ya, what is it, Mindy?" Josh said turning around, attempting a large smile that showed his bright teeth.

"Are you feeling okay, you've been seeming distracted lately." She confided in him. She let her hand fall to his shoulder and squeeze it. Comforting was never something she was brilliant at, but damn it, she was going to try her best to be supportive and caring in Josh's time of need.

Josh grabbed Mindy's hand that lay on his shoulder, holding it. "Truthfully, I'm not doing okay. But it's not really something that I can talk about at this time." He exclaimed. He understood that she was just worried and just trying to help, but for some reason, he just didn't know why he needed to leave. And as he considered the thought of telling Mindy that he had no clue why he felt uspet, he knew that it wouldn't end well.

Mindy's perfectly trimmed eyebrows arched in bewilderment. "Is Audrey acting up again?" She asked carefully. She knew that Josh's step mom, although usually a kind woman, had mental issues revolving around her lost son. She didn't know the details, she just knew that Audrey wasn't always the ideal figure of a custodial parent.

Josh gave Mindy a sad smile and nodded his head. "Kind of. Listen, I really do need to get going, but I'll tell you everything as soon as I can."

Mindy reluctantly nodded her head and let go of Josh. It was a silent agreement to be told later on in life. That could be tomorrow, in a few months, years, decades…

She didn't know when Josh would confess whatever problem he was facing. And the one thing that Mindy hated more than anything was not knowing.

X~~~X~~~X

"Come on. It's alright. No one's home so you can sleep here tonight." Josh said as they entered through the door.

Earlier that night Josh, as every other night, went up to the small meadow and talked to the silent boy, bringing a bag of food along so the boy could eat.

Josh had seemed to talk about everything in the small course of their friendship. He talked about exams, running around the playground as a kid, idiotic things his Dad had done, the time Audrey, right after her and Walter got married, asked Josh to talk. She took him out to a local bakery, bought him cookies and directly told him that she wasn't ever going to replace his Mother. She would never even dream of it, but she wanted to have a relationship with him, so if he ever needed anything, he could come to her.

After that, she and Josh decided to have some Mother and step-son bonding time by playing one of Josh's new games, Bario Kart Triple Racer. He beat her every round, but she put up a good fight.

Josh remembered that day as if it were yesterday. It was the first time that he noticed that the scent she carried resembled flowers and cinnamon.

Josh also told the boy how Mindy, no matter the situation, whether it's studying for mid terms or sprinting 20 laps, always smelled like lavender. Josh then went on to call himself a freak of nature, since he liked to identify what the girls of his life smelled like.

Megan had the smell of horror, death and Satan packaged all in one. It was all demonic.

When the time got close to being midnight, the boy pocked Josh and pointed towards the trailer that rested down the side of the cliff.

He began to make a note in the sand, "NO ONE IS HOME. NO KEY. GONE FOR THREE DAYS."

It was one of the longest things the kid had ever written, and while Josh was thankful for getting him to interact, he noticed the shaking of his shoulders. It was probably from a lack of extra clothing, rather than his normal black T-Shirt, and not-so-skinny skinny jeans that always seemed to have an abundance of holes.

Josh offered him to stay at his house, stating that no one was home so it'd be alright. The boy had nodded and Josh took that as an agreement.

Josh slowly took the boys arm, as to not scare him, and began to lead him down the path back towards his house.

It was definitely a learning experience. The kid flinched and hid behind Josh every chance he got. He also observed every little thing. The feel of paved roads underneath his feet rather than the normal dirt was the biggest difference. Josh guessed this since he jumped up and shrieked, startled when his shoes made contact with the concrete ground.

His eyes bounced every which way as they walked down the road underneath all the lamp posts that shone the pseudo yellow lights. They continued to walk together towards his house and finally in through the door.

When Josh closed it behind them, Bud instantly let his hands glide against the chilled frame.

It took a good hour to get him upstairs, since he seemed to need to touch everything the Nichols-Parker residence owned. The vases. The potted plants. The remote control. The counters, couch, TV, everything.

Finally, in all of his exhaustion, Josh dragged the skinny boy into his room.

"You can have my bed if you'd like." Josh mumbled incoherently as he fell onto the couch in the lower part of his bedroom.

"There are some pyjamas in the dresser if you'd like to wear those. I can wash the clothes you're wearing tomorrow. Only if you want, though." He offered tiredly, letting his hand fall threw his curled hair.

The boy made a croak in response. If Josh was lucky, he might be able to get the kid to say another full sentence. It happened every now and then, and Josh was still shocked every single time.

Josh sighed and decided to sit up. The kid was in a new environment, alone, and had no idea of what to do, Josh couldn't just fall asleep now.

He turned towards his friend, and noticed him staring at a guitar in the corner.

"Go ahead and touch it." Josh said kindly, seeing the desire in his brown eyes.

With a nod, the boy walked up to the guitar, letting his hand fall against the cool metal.

"My Uncle bought it for me a couple years back. I never could get into it. You can pick it up if you'd like." Josh offered. The boy glanced up at Josh, silently asking if he _could _play. He searched Josh's eyes, looking for any sign of a misleading taunt. When he found none, he smiled and picked up the guitar, placing the bottom against his hip.

His fingers glided over the strings, and sound began to emit from the instrument that's 'in-dire-need-of-a-tune-up', as Mindy had repeatedly told Josh in her loving way.

"You know how to play guitar?" Josh asked befuddled. The boy smiled widely, baring his teeth and nodded, yet still focused on the feel of the guitar between his fingers.

Josh smiled along with him, happy that at the moment he seemed like a normal kid.

As the boys fingers drifted over the strings, a familiar beat broke the silence in the air. Josh was amazed by how quickly he could move his fingers and hand, while strumming. It just seemed unnatural that a human body part could move that quickly while still attached to the body itself. It just wasn't right!

"Wow, you know a Freddie Prinze Jr. Song?" Josh asked excitedly, recognizing the tune.

The boy glanced at Josh, a sparkle in his eye. He shook his head, and continued playing the song.

"But.. that's a Freddie Prinze Jr. Song!" Josh tried to argue. "You're playing a Freddie Prinze Jr. Song!"

He laughed at Josh. Oh no, he didn't laugh _with_ Josh, he laughed _at _Josh. He stopped playing and went over to Josh's desk, guitar still in hand. Picking up a pencil, he grabbed a sticky note and wrote the words 'PRINCE' on it.

The boy turned around and, in the most gentle way possible, slammed the piece of paper against Josh's chest.

Josh grabbed it, and stared at it with confusion. The silent boy rolled his eyes and began writing another note.

'WHEN DOVES CRY IS BY PRINCE, NOT FREDDIE PRINZE JR.'

"Ohh..." Josh stated. He hated being wrong. Josh watched as the kid gave him a 'I told you so' smirk.

The boy glanced around the large room, taking it all in. He turned towards the window pane where a dozen pictures rested. Interested, he put the guitar down gently against the couch and walked up towards the window.

Josh watched his eyes skip between the photos of Himself and Mindy, grinning at the camera. The first picture was taken during Josh's fifteenth birthday, and Josh was opening a gift from his Dad. Both himself and Mindy wore paper party hats, the string indenting the sides of their face. At the last minute, his Grammy ran up with the camera and said 'Cheese!'

The next picture that the boy stared at was just a picture of Megan. The young girl smiled brightly for the camera. It was taken the day after the wedding, and the family had done family portraits near the beach by a professional photographer. It wasn't your picturesque type of day, as it was grey with looming rain clouds. It was just another day that Walter had been wrong about the weather. 56, Walter had predicted. 56! Yah right, it was more like 32 that particular day.

The next picture was Josh's particular favourite. It was of his mother, still in her prime. She was in her flower garden, holding the large baby bump around her stomach while making a funny face towards the camera. The wind had been playing with her curls, forcing them in front of her face. Josh loved that she didn't seem to care, and continued to smile for the smile.

In another one on the window pane was a simple one. It was Josh, Craig&Eric at an 'Hot Dog' contest. They all had ketchup, pieces of bread and mustard sullied to their faces. It was moments before Craig promptly threw up. Josh could barely keep down his laugh when he looked at that picture, noticing Craig's paling face.

The next was of Josh and his own Father. It was done the same day as Megan's photo by the professional. Smiling. Walter was hold his arms around Josh, as Josh tried to smile as best he could... that didn't turn out to well. It had been to forced. His eye ended up twitching at the last moment from the stress of trying to be perfect.

The final picture that lay on the window was the one where the boy abruptly stopped. Josh watched as he visibly tensed. His breath hitched in his throat, and Josh was sure his white skin grew even more pale.

The boy let his hand glide over the curled hair in the framed photo.

"Mom…" The boy whispered.

"Umm, ya. That's my step-mom. Audrey." Josh tried to say with a laugh, but it came out laced with concern.

The picture was just of Audrey, smiling. Taken the same day as the family portraits. Her hair was professionally curled, and her makeup emphasizing her natural beauty. She was smiling a true, proud smile.

"Audrey..." The boy repeated, his eyes becoming blank as a memory flashed through his mind.

Josh realized that he had never said Audrey's name before this moment. It was always 'my step-mom'. It seemed like such an insignificant fact at the time.

"Mom." The boy repeated. He was speaking. And he was saying Mom.

Mom? Josh watched, flustered with the scene before him. Mom?

The boy clutched the picture to his chest and let himself fall onto his knees.

"Mom…"

"Are you okay?" Josh asked immediately as the boy fell onto the ground. "I can go get something for you, Bud. A glass of water, or-"

The boy shook his head, clutching the photo further. "No, I, no..." He said, almost frightened.

He began looking at picture of Audrey again, as tears pricked at the edges his chestnut eyes.

Finally, after a few moments of Josh panicking and mere silence, the boy spoke up. "This... This my Mom,"

The boy turned towards Josh, still on his knees and holding onto the framed picture for dear life.

"But, you're bud! That can't be your Mom!" Josh tried to argue.

"I'm not Bud." He croaked, tears falling down his thin face.

Josh took a deep inhale of air. He put his hand onto his forehead, trying to figure out how to put his next sentence into words.

"What, umm, exactly..." Josh took a loud breath of air, calming himself.

"What Is your name, then?" He asked, fearing the answer.

"Drake. Drake Parker…" The boy said defiantly behind the tears.

"My name is Drake Parker."

* * *

><p>Chapppterr donne<p>

And there we go Ladies and Gentleman. The most obvious twist in the history of twists. jaded river hussie, you were correct! Drake IS Bud!, Haha, ohh boy :p

... -_- I'm not very happy with how this turned out. Just the writing of it doesn't- Okay, stop! Keep the complaints to yourself. Keep the complaints to yourself. haha

Review :)


	6. Author's Note

Hi everyone, if you were expecting a new chapter I am so sorry. I promised myself I'd never do this, but I felt that I should apologize and explain for the 8 months without a new chapter-

I feel really bad for just letting this fic hang where it is. For everyone who read Chapter 7, I am so incredibly sorry for what you read. You probably don't even remember by now, but I feel absolutely appalled and disgusted at what I wrote. A few days after ( I think?) I forced myself to get on the site and delete the chapter, and then shortly after I deleted chapter 6, leaving it where it is now. When I wrote those Chapters I was in a completely different mindframe/mental state. It was not very pleasant. But things have gotten much better now, and I once I'm done some of my newer stories, I will be returning to this one. I can't just let a fic be left udone, especially when I really like the idea/plot. I am unsure of when I'll pick the story up, but it will be in the new year. Truthfully, I couldn't even bring myself to look at this story for most of this year, and any reviews I recieved I deleted because I was just really ashamed of myself. It was a wierd sensation, but I think I've gotten past my own disgust for the last chapters now. I have much better ideas of what can happen, less gruesome/physical and violent. Ones that I will be able to look at later and be happy with, and not want to delete and then pretend it never happened for more than half a year :p Also, I'm hoping my writing skill has improved, so that would be nice for this story as well, since it relies more on setting, characters, background information than it does on dialogue/ filler stuff.

Long story short, when I'm done writing my newer fics (which will be soon!), I'll be returning to this one. I dont know when that will be, but this will be finished! IT WILL HAPPEN! HAHA! :p I might take it down, completely redo it (since I do kind of insinutate that Owen is behind the kidnapping- and for those of you who did read the other chapters, he's the one who did kidnap Drake, etc. etc... and as I said, I have better ideas now, so I may have to take way his character completely, we'll see?), and then re-upload it with the same name. Or I might just reupload chapters instead of taking it down? Either way, once again, I am so sorry for the wait for those of you who have actually liked it, but I figured an honest explanation and apology was in order. But, mark my words, if you did happen to like this story, it will have an end. That, I can promise you! :) Merry Christmas and I hope you all have a Happy New Year! :) See you soon?


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